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DUP assemblyman slams Kerry

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

In a recent statement, Kerry criticized the DUP for refusing to form a government with Sinn Fein, leading the DUP assembly member for Upper Bann, David Simpson, to label him “ignorant” of the issues.
Sen. Kerry had also urged the IRA and loyalists to get rid of all their weapons and end all paramilitary activity. He accused the Bush administration of failing to build on Bill Clinton`s efforts to promote the peace process.
A member of the Massachusetts senator`s campaign team said: “As a supporter of the need to hold recent elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly, he believes that repeatedly suspending democratic institutions is not the way forward. . . . The DUP cannot be permitted to disenfranchise half the population of Northern Ireland by refusing to form a government with Sinn Fein.”
It is this last statement that has earned the fury of Paisley’s party.
Although Simpson is not a senior member of the DUP, his statement
criticizing Kerry was put out by the party’s official press office and must be assumed to have the imprimatur of the party hierarchy.
“Kerry, has proved himself to be a friend of Irish terrorism with his calls for democrats to share power with those who continue to be linked to active terrorism,” Simpson said. “His comments are no doubt a rather vulgar attempt to court the Irish-American vote, yet his obvious ignorance on the issue is worrying in a man who would seek to be president.
“Kerry singles the DUP out for mention for refusing to share power with the IRA but seems to have little to say about the fact that this is the position adopted by the British and Irish governments as well. . . . The reality is that the stance adopted by the Bush Administration has been much more conducive to good relations and is clearly in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.”

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